The Boston Celtics are listing center Kristaps Porzingis as questionable for tonight’s game against the Golden State Warriors. The Celtics are on the front end of a back-to-back set and will have to play three games in four days this week, but he just got a night off last Friday, and he has missed six games already this year. Let’s dive into the most recent Kristaps Porzingis injury update for Tuesday to discuss his odds of playing and a player prop pick. If you’re hungry for more action, check out our NBA player prop bets, our NBA betting tools or our NBA betting promos!
Kristaps Porzingis Injury Update: Is Boston’s Star Playing Tonight?
Is Kristaps Porzingis Playing for the Boston Celtics Tonight?
The Boston Celtics have listed Kristaps Porzingis as questionable tonight due to a left calf strain and injury management concerns. The Celtics have been deliberate about managing Porzingis’ workload thus far, holding him out of six games to date.
When asked about his availability for this week’s back-to-back set, Porzingis sounded confident about his ability to play. “[The Celtics] know my stance: I want to play in every game they allow me,” adding, “but of course, they want to be smart with me and my health. Make sure I’m here for the long picture.”
So is Kristaps Porzingis playing tonight? The Celtics have to make a difficult choice: should they use Porzingis against the Golden State Warriors, who are playing on the wrong end of a back-to-back set (and their fourth game in three days), or should they save him for tomorrow against the Sacramento Kings?
I suspect we’ll see Porzingis out there tonight. The Kings are probably a tougher opponent than the stretched-thin Warriors, but Porzingis is yet to miss the front end of a back-to-back set this year. I’m not sure if the Celtics see the calculation the same way I do — they may see this as a spot to just keep Porzingis’ minutes down in hopes of saving him for tomorrow.
Ultimately, the books seem relatively confident that Porzingis will play. His player prop markets are open, as are those for his teammates, including Derrick White. The availability of White’s props is a big tell — the veteran guard averages 5.1 more points and three more assists without Porzingis than with him. White’s points prop (15.5) and assists prop (4.5) are set to roughly his season averages (15.3 and 5.1).
Derrick White Player Prop Pick
I already recommended getting some action down on the under for White’s assists in today’s NBA player props column. I assumed that Porzingis was playing when writing that story and didn’t dive into White’s splits with or without him.
Since I suspect Porzingis will play — and Boston’s deployment of Porzingis to this point suggests he will as well — the under stands out even more now. You can even get a better number than the under 4.5 I bought for -113 at FanDuel this morning, too. The under 4.5 is now trading at odds of -105 on DraftKings. Lock that in before Porzingis gets ruled in.
Derrick White Player Prop Pick: Under 4.5 Assists -105 at DraftKings
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